Terps' Pe'Shon Howard out 10-12 weeks

The success of Mark Turgeon’s first season as the basketball coach at Maryland was always going to hinge on maintaining the health of his handful of scholarship players.

More than two weeks before the Terrapins’ opener, he’s already facing a significant injury.

SEE RELATED:

Sophomore guard Pe’Shon Howard will be out between 10 and 12 weeks with a broken bone in his left foot, the school said Thursday, leaving the Terps with only seven scholarship players entering their Nov. 13 debut against UNC Wilmington.

Howard averaged 5.4 points, 3.2 assists and 1.7 rebounds in 33 games as a freshman. He made eight starts, and hit the game-winning shot in the Terps’ defeat of College of Charleston early last season.

If Howard were to return within 10 weeks, he would be back just in time for the start of conference play in early January.

“I feel bad for Pe’Shon,” Turgeon said in a statement. “He worked so hard and had a great summer and early fall. He’s been practicing and playing well for us. Hopefully, we’ll get a lot better by the time Pe’Shon joins the team later this year.”

Howard’s role figured to expand significantly this year and include plenty of time at point guard. With Howard shelved, Maryland has four scholarship guards – Nick Faust, Sean Mosley, Mychal Parker and Terrell Stoglin – healthy entering the season.

Stoglin will probably play most of Maryland’s minutes at point guard, though Faust (a 6-foot-6 freshman) and Mosley could be other candidates to play at the point.

Maryland is already without center Alex Len, whose eligibility is still under review by the NCAA. It is uncertain how soon the NCAA will rule on the 7-foot-1 Ukrainian’s status.